Sachetta LLC Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sachetta LLC bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 293.6% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Altria Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,727,000 after buying an additional 4,789 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $46.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.83. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $46.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.48%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.